Term
|
Definition
| Confederate general Pierre G. T. Beauregard demanded the surrender of Fort Sumter on April 11. Major Robert Anderson, in charge of the Union forces in Fort Sumter, refused to capitulate. Beauregard's forces then opened fire on the fort and cut off supply lines to Anderson's men, eventually forcing the Union soldiers to surrender. The Fall of Fort Sumter occured on April 12, 1861, and signaled the beginning of the Civil War. |
|
|
Term
| Lincoln's War Proclamation |
|
Definition
| On April 13, 1861, a day after the fall of Fort Sumter, Lincoln called on all Union states to supply 75,000 militiamen to subdue the Confederacy. This caused four more states to secede from the Union, including Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas. Richmond, Virginia, became the new Confederate capital. |
|
|
Term
| Creation of West Virginia |
|
Definition
| Union-supporters in western Virginia seceded from the rest of Virginia with the help of General George B. McClellan's Union forces from Ohio. In 1863, West Virginia became an official state of the Union. |
|
|
Term
| Maryland's Lopsided Elections |
|
Definition
| The state of Maryland was strongly divided in its loyalties after the Fall of Fort Sumter in 1861. Maryland's secession was a real possibility if pro-Confederates were allowed to participate in the fall elections of 1861. Lincoln realized this and knew that Maryland's secession would place Washington D.C., the federal capital, within Confederate hands. He consequently suspended the Writ of Habeas Corpus and arrested all pro-Confederate leaders in Maryland. The fall elections resulted in the election of pro-Union leaders, securing the state's loyalty to the Union. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The Battle of Pea Ridge (March 6-8, 1862) was a battle between Unionist and Confederate forces that resulted in Union control of Missouri and the pushing of Confederate forces into Arkansas. Missouri-Arkansas border warfare continued through the war and even a few years after. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| After the fall of Fort Sumter, Robert E. Lee was offered control of Union forces by General Winfield Scott. Lee spent a sleepless night in indecision, but finally chose to join the Confederacy, which contained his home-state of Virginia. |
|
|
Term
| The First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) |
|
Definition
| On July 21, 1861, Unionist forces under General Irvin McDowell fought against Confederate forces under General Pierre Beauregard twenty-five miles west of Washington D.C. at the Bull Run river, near the Manassas Railroad Junction in Virginia. Both armies attempted to attack the other's left flank. McDowell almost succeeded, but General Joseph E. Johnston arrived with reinforcements and repulsed the Union offensive. McDowell meant to overwhelm Beauregard with superior numbers, march on to the Confederate capital at Richmond, and secure the end of the Civil War. Beauregard meant to capture the Union capital at Washington D.C. and secure a decisive Confederate victory. Both generals wanted a quick and easy victory, but both didn't get it. The battle forced Union forces to retreat but also prevented Confederate forces from giving chase and capturing Washington. The battle showed both North and South that the Civil War would not be quick and cheap. |
|
|
Term
| Union's Surprise Naval Attack |
|
Definition
| In the spring of 1862, Admiral David Farragut launched a surprise attack against Confederate forces at New Orleans. Leading up to this attack, Farragut's fleet bombarded Confederate establishments along the East Coast and set up bases of their own. They steadily extended their grip from Norfolk, Virginia, to the Georgia-Florida coast, until they saw an opening to New Orleans. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| On April 16, 1862, the Confederacy passed an act that required all white male citizens aged eighteen to thirty-five years to join the Confederate army for three years. The act automatically refreshed the contracts of soldiers already in service while enlisting new recruits. There were several major loopholes in the act however. Draftees could escape service by supplying an able-bodied substitute who was not within the specified age-range, by paying $500 in cash to the Confederacy, by carrying out key civilian jobs, or by remaining home to run the plantation (one white man could stay home if his plantation held twenty or more slaves--otherwise, the soldiers' wives were expected to run the affairs of the family). The age-range of the act was later expanded to 18-45 years in 1862 and 17-50 years in 1864. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| In New York on July 11, 1863, through July 18, 1863, working class toughs primarily composed of Catholic Irish immigrants took to the streets in violent protest of a Union draft lottery, which they believed, forced the poor to fight the rich man's war. The toughs directed their fury at conscription offices, factories, docks, the homes of prominent Republican leaders, and most of all, African Americans, whom they blamed the war and limited number of jobs for. The violence of the toughs occured because of conscription but also because of pent-up racial tensions. The violence was halted by five regiments from Gettysburg. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| In November 1861, a Union warship stopped a British ship to arrest James M. Mason and John Slidell, two Confederate agents headed for Europe. The arrests raised a storm of protest in Britain and forced the Union to release their prisoners. The Trent Affair almost brought British support to the Confederacy, which would have tipped the scales in the South's favor. |
|
|
Term
| Ulysses S. Grant's Assault in Western Kentucky |
|
Definition
| Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston had his 40,000 soldiers spread over 150 miles in Western Kentucky. In early 1862, General Ulysses S. Grant moved his troops out of Cairo, Illinois, and Paducah, Kentucky, to strike at Johnston's overextended position. Grant moved with a gunboat flotilla up the Tennesse river to capture Fort Henry on February 6, 1862. He then moved his troops across the short expanse of land leading up to Fort Donelson, which he then conquered. By February 16, 1862, Grant had secured the surrender of 12,000 Confederate troops in Western Kentucky. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| General Ulysses S. Grant's offensive in Kentucky and Tennessee pushed the majority of General Albert S. Johnston's troops out of Kentucky and Tennessee into northern Mississippi (the minority surrendered). Johnston had retreated to Corinth, Mississippi, with Grant in pursuit. While planning his attack on Corinth, Grant exposed his 42,000 troops on a plateau between two tributaries of the Tennessee river. Johnston recognized Grant's plan and weak position, so he ordered his Confederate soldiers to launch a surprise attack against the federals. The Confederates found Grant and his troops still sleeping and eating breakfast at Shiloh, a log church. Union forces would have been soundly massacred had General Johnston not fallen in the fight. Johnston's second in command called off the offensive, allowing the federals to escape. The battle of Shiloh was the costliest battle in American history with over 20,000 total casualties. After the battle, General Henry Halleck, jealous of Grant's previous successes, spread the false rumor that Grant was drunk during the battle. Halleck replaced Grant as field commander and brought southward advances to a halt. |
|
|
Term
| McClellan's Peninsular Campaign |
|
Definition
| In the middle of March, 1862, General McClellan moved his large, well-trained army down the Potomac River and Chesapeake bay to the Virginia Peninsula, southeast of Richmond. McClellan was too cautious. He waited long enough to allow the Confederates to repulse his threatened offensive. At the advice of General Robert E. Lee, Confederate President Jefferson Davis sent Stonewall Jackson's army into Shenandoah Valley. The action faked a Confederate offensive against Washington D.C., which caused McDowell and the Union Army of the Potomac to entrench themselves for defense and eliminate any hope of quick mobilization. After the diversion, Stonewall Jackson moved south to Richmond to help protect the capital against McClellan, who was battling General Joseph Johnston in the Battle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks) along the Chickahominy River. McClellan would have suffered a humiliating defeat had it not been for the timely arrival of federal reinforcements. General Johnston was severely wounded in the battle, so Robert Lee was put in command of the Army of Northern Virginia. After an indecisive battle with Lee, McClellan was demoted and ordered to retreat to Washington to defend against Lee's imminent offensive. |
|
|
Term
| The Second Battle of Bull Run |
|
Definition
| Before McClellan could reach Washington, General Lee battled General John Pope's army near Washington in the Second Battle of Bull Run. Lee sent Stonewall Jackson to Pope's right flank while he himself moved after. On August 30, 1862, Pope was forced to retreat to the fortifications around Washington while the Confederate army advanced. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| On September 17, 1862, McClellan attacked General Lee's forces in the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg) along Antietam Creek. Confederate forces would have broken had Ambrose P. Hill and his division not arrived from Harpers Ferry to crush McClellan's left flank. Both sides suffered heavy losses, and Lee's forces retreated the next day. General McClellan had failed to win a decisive victory against the Confederacy, so Lincoln moved him to New Jersey for recruiting duty. Although the Battle of Antietam was indecisive, it had still prevented a southern invasion of the North and had battered the forces of the Confederacy's greatest commander. As such, northern morale increased. |
|
|
Term
| The Battle of Fredericksburg |
|
Definition
| On December 13, 1862, Ambrose E. Burnside, a newly appointed General, moved the Army of the Potomac across the Rappahannock River to attack Lee's forces, who were well-fortified behind stone walls in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Burnside's troops suffered 12,000 casualties compared to the 6,000 of Lee's troops. Burnside was forced to retreat. |
|
|
Term
| The Emancipation Proclamation |
|
Definition
| On January 1, 1863, Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves within Confederate states. Lincoln insisted that the sweeping executive powers he exercised in issuing the Proclamation was a war measure based on his war powers. Indeed, the Proclamation gave a moral purpose to the war for northerners, much-needed direct military help from black regiments, and a powerful blow to the southern slaves' obedience to their masters. The Emancipation Proclamation eventually gave way to the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlawed slavery once and for all. |
|
|
Term
| Union Recruitment of African Americans |
|
Definition
| In May, 1863, the War Department of the Union authorized the recruitment of African Americans. This decision was the beginning of a social revolution that would completely end racial slavery and eventually give African Americans the same rights as their fellow European Americans. The African American regiments served with courage and distinction during the war and brought greater white acceptance of emancipation. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| In 1862, the Union Congress authorized the creation of $450,000,000 in greenback paper currency. This form of currency could not be exchanged with specie, and its value depended on the public's trust in the government. The greenbacks helped ease the Union's financial crisis, and unlike with the Confederacy, the Union's amount of currency was moderated to prevent inflation. |
|
|
Term
| The Habeas Corpus Act of 1863 |
|
Definition
| This act, passed by the Union Congress, enabled the president to suspend the writ of Habeas Corpus. Habeas Corpus allowed all arrested individuals to request a court-hearing except in cases of rebellion or invasion. Congress passed this act in response to the growing number of anti-Union individuals who threatened to disturb the stability of some of the Union states, primarily Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The Union government imprisoned more than 14,000 anti-Union individuals without recourse to habeas corpus during the duration of the war. |
|
|
Term
| The 1864 Presidential Election |
|
Definition
| In this election, Lincoln faced growing opposition to his presidency from Radical Republicans, who believed he was too soft with the South, and Democrats, who believed he was too hard with the South. The Democrats nominated General George McClellan, while the Republicans shakily put forward Lincoln. Chances of reelection looked bleak for Lincoln, but after Admiral Farragut captured Mobile, Alabama, in August of that year and General William Tecumseh Sherman captured Atlanta on September 2, support for the war and Lincoln rose again. Lincoln was reelected with large support. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The Confederacy began the war with a weaker economy than the North. As the war sapped the South's energy, the number of resources plummeted and discontent with Davis' presidency spread. This riot predominantly featured women who were discontent with the scarcity and cost of food supplies. The riot ended only when Davis himself threatened to shoot the protesters. This event demonstrated the economic difficulties and disunity that the South faced. Davis was the Confederate president for the duration of the war, but many criticized his "military despotism" (Alexander Stephens). |
|
|
Term
| The Battle of Chancellorsville |
|
Definition
| On May 1-5, 1863, Joseph Hooker (nicknamed "Fighting Joe" for his pugnacity), a newly appointed Union general, battled General Robert Lee near Chancellorsville, Virginia. Hooker's 130,000 men left their base, which was opposite Fredericksburg, and swept upstream the Rappahanock and Rapidan rivers to flank Lee's position. Hooker also sent a diversionary detachment to the opposite flank. Lee saw through Hooker's plan and avoided the diversionary troops to battle Hooker's main forces. He sent Stonewall Jackson to attack his opponent's right flank while he marched immediately after to engage the enemy head-to-head. On May 2, Stonewall Jackson engaged the federal forces in a surprise attack. The offensive turned into a confused exchange of blows however, as night fell. Confederate soldiers accidentally shot Stonewall Jackson, who died of pneumonia shortly after. Confederate forces were victorious against the much larger Union army, but Lee had lost one of his best fighters, Stonewall Jackson. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| While Lee was fighting against General Hooker in the Battle of Chancellorsville, General Ulysses S. Grant, his command reinstated, marched into Louisiana, intent on capturing the Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg, in western Mississippi. While Grant marched into Louisiana just to the west of Mississippi, Union gunboats and transports moved down the Mississippi River and past the Vicksburg stronghold. The navy continued downstream the Mississippi until it met up with Grant, whereupon they jointly swept east to their targets. Grant captured Jackson, Mississippi, where he seized or destroyed Confederate supplies, and then headed west on May 2 to pin down the 30,000 Confederate troops in Vicksburg. Grant lay siege to Vicksburg, forcing the Confederacy to act fast in an attempt to counter his chokehold. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| General Lee decided to move his army north across Maryland in another attempt to invade the North. As Lee advanced north, a Confederate scavenging party accidentally encountered a Union cavalry detachment in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The main Confederate force joined its scavenger detachment and forced the federal garrison out of Gettysburg but incidentally, onto advantageous higher ground. General George Meade, a new Union commander, requested and obtained reinforcements for his troops immediately outside Gettysburg. On July 2, Lee attacked Meade's right and left flanks but failed to dislodge them. The next day, Lee sent 15,000 soldiers in a single thrust at the center of Meade's position. The results were disastrous. Confederate ranks were lacerated and defeated as they marched uphill to Meade's position. Lee was forced to retreat. With the Gettysburg battle unsuccessful for the Confederacy, Vicksburg surrendered on July 4. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| In May 1864, Grant and his army moved south into western Virginia. Grant faced off with Lee's army in several minor skirmishes, including the Battle of the Wilderness and a skirmish near the Spotsylvania Court House, before he laid siege to Lee's entrenched forces in Petersburg, Virginia. The siege lasted nine months. Federal forces were generously supplied by the Union navy while the Confederate army withered away, its supply lines severed. On April 2, 1865, Lee attempted to escape Petersburg with his army and join General Johnston's army in North Carolina. Lee's escape failed, and he was forced to surrender to Grant in the Appomattox Court House on April 9. A few weeks later on May 10, President of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis was captured by Union cavalry in Georgia. With its last two war-leaders and president captured, the Confederacy was clearly dead. All Confederate forces surrendered by the end of May. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| As Grant headed into Virginia, General William Tecumseh Sherman headed into Georgia. At first, Sherman was continually repulsed by General Johnston's defensive tactics, but President Davis, impatient with mere defense, replaced Johnston with John B. Hood, a tactically inept fighter. Hood carried out several offensives against Sherman, all of which were bloodily countered. Sherman laid siege to Atlanta but then decided to cut off the railway supply lines to the south of the city. Hood fled into Alabama and then into Tennessee, hoping to lure Sherman away from Alabama. Sherman instead cut a path of destruction through Georgia. Sherman moved away from his supply lines, forcing his men to live off the land and supplies they came across. They destroyed railroads, mills, and plantations and confiscated food and livestock. They also freed the slaves they came across. When Sherman had reached the East Coast at Savannah, he turned North and marched north into South and North Carolina, waging total war as he went. General Johnston attempted to stop Sherman in North Carolina at the Battle of Bentonville but failed. Sherman and Grant had jointly choked the South to its surrender. |
|
|
